UAlbany-St. Francis (N.Y.) preview

UAlbany will try to snap a three-game losing streak when the Great Danes play host to St. Francis (N.Y.) of the Northeast Conference at SEFCU Arena.

The Great Danes (4-4) will play their first home game since Nov. 25 after losing on the road at Siena, Delaware and St. Bonaventure.

“It feels really good to come home,” UAlbany junior forward Brian Connelly said. “We had three tough road losses and hopefully we can turn it around and grab a win at home before we go to Duke (on Monday).”

UAlbany coach Will Brown said he’ll be“shocked” if the Danes don’t play well Saturday.

“We haven’t had an issue getting up to play at home,” Brown said. “Our problem has been on the road. But it’ll be nice to play in the SEFCU. We haven’t played here in a while.”

Here are Saturday’s possible, and I stress possible, starting lineups:

The above UAlbany lineup has started all eight games, and it’s listed as Saturday’s probable lineup in the game notes. But Brown said this week he’s considering changes against St. Francis to ignite his team’s offense, which has been choppy and turnover-prone the past three games.

Who could get the nod? Maybe freshman Josh Martin at point guard. Possibly freshman Tim Ambrose at shooting guard. Could it be sophomore Brett Gifford or freshman Al Turley at center? Brown wasn’t willing to tip his hand after Friday’s practice. He said he needed to talk to his staff later in the day.

“I know what I want to do,” he said. “I want to make sure we don’t lose anybody mentally. I want to make sure we’re not making change just to make change.”

He did say earlier in the week that Lillis and Wilson were the only two starters whose jobs were safe.

“For a team that has decent size, we’re not getting to the free throw line, we’re not getting enough of a low-post presence and we’re turning the ball over too much,” Brown said.

Other than that, everything’s great. He does have a point, though. UAlbany has attempted 128 foul shots this season compared with 186 by its opponents. And the center-by-committee of Covington, Turley and Gifford is averaging a pedestrian 5.9 points and 6.6 rebounds in 33.9 minutes per game.

Instead of cutting back during final exams week, Brown worked around the academic schedule to make sure his team practiced every morning this week, in addition to individual drills in the afternoon.

“We had a great week of practice,” Brown said.

Connelly said the extra work has benefitted the Great Danes.

“It wasn’t that bad,” he said. “Since school was canceled, there’s a lot of time in the day. We got some skills work, some individual stuff, and some weightlifting, so it was good. I think it’s been very productive. Practices have been good. We always talk about trying to win games in practice. I think we’ve done that this past week.”

Connelly said UAlbany seems ready to play well on Saturday.

“Even though we’re coming off a bunch of losses, our confidence is still high,” he said.

St. Francis, coached by former Siena assistant Brian Nash, is struggling with a four-game losing streak. On Monday, the Terriers lost by 19 to Columbia, a team the Great Danes drubbed 70-38 at SEFCU Arena on Nov. 17.

St. Francis’ best player is 6-foot-5, 250-pound Robert Hines, who can play the small forward, power forward, and center positions.

“They’re athletic and they like to score in transition,” Brown said. “The Hines kid is one of the top two or three players in the Northeast Conference. He can really score. He’s a matchup problem, and he’s talented. He’s one of those guys that when he gets going, he can put up big numbers. He gets it done inside and outside, so he’s a guy we really need to focus on.”

St. Francis doesn’t shoot the ball well, only managing 38.9 percent from the field. But the Terriers do crash the boards to the tune of 13.4 offensive rebounds per game, so the Great Danes will have to box out.

The Terriers are also allowing opponents to shoot 45.5 percent, so the Danes should be able to get good shots, as long as they’re smart with the basketball.